The first 5000 years I can't recommend enough. As far as how abstract money and society get, I think a decent counterpoint exists in Nick Szabo's Shelling Out:

The first 5000 years I can't recommend enough. As far as how abstract money and society get, I think a decent counterpoint exists in Nick Szabo's Shelling Out: http://nakamotoinstitute.org/shelling-out/ http://nakamotoinstitute.org/shelling-out/ Money is useful because it allows for delayed reciprocity. Delayed reciprocity can help overcome environmental uncertainty for the individual human that next to zero other animals can benefit from. From there you get the productivity of networks.